Universal Display Crushes Estimates, Lifts Guidance

OLED lighting and display specialist Universal Display took analysts by surprise with a robust third-quarter report. The company's business model is gaining traction with a new set of OLED components. Shares jumped 18% higher in after-hours action.

Total sales soared 162% higher year over year, landing at $32.8 million. GAAP earnings traded a $0.12 year-ago loss per share for a $0.12 profit this time. Royalty payments from top customer Samsung add about $20 million of revenue to every other quarter, but this was one of the periods in between Samsung payments.

Analysts were looking for a $0.03 loss per share on $21.8 million in sales. Universal Display also raised its revenue guidance for the full year to about $143 million, leaving both analysts and last quarter's 2013 guidance far behind.

Universal Display's strong sales stem from its green OLED materials gaining traction with large customers. The company has gleaned nearly all of its sales from red materials so far, leaving competing OLED technologies to fill in the green and blue elements.

"Looking forward, we believe the OLED industry is poised for robust growth as product roadmaps are further developed, new manufacturing capacity ramps and new display and lighting manufacturers enter the market," said CFO Sid Rosenblatt.